I Have a God Simulator

With the Divine War imminent, the Ghost God swiftly mobilized his forces.

He dispatched his two Apostles. Blo was to hold the rear, leading the Funeral Race in building Black Tombstones and cultivating Ghouls. Hubbard was ordered to the front to set up defenses, adjusting and relocating the tombstone clusters to form a battle line.

With one in the rear and one at the front, the two Apostles formed a coordinated defense, each supporting the other.

The enemy's advance was fierce, but the initial waves of their attack were all crushed by the tombstone clusters. The Ghouls didn't even get a chance to strike before those ridiculous Bamboo People were reduced to cinders.

The Ghost God knew this was just a probe.

After a series of feints, the King of Bamboo Reed dispatched his true main force. Giant Bamboo Beasts of all kinds appeared on the horizon, crossing the border and charging into the tombstone clusters, braving the Nether Fire to wreak havoc.

A Divine War is a conflict that begins when the borders of Divine Kingdoms touch. The most important assets for both sides are their Faith Reserve and population, but territory itself is also a strategic resource.

This relates to the underlying strength of one's Rule Power.

Generally, the vaster and more expansive a Divine Kingdom, the more powerful its Rule Power. Conversely, the smaller and more desolate the kingdom, the weaker its Rule Power.

Rule Power is a double-edged sword.

A powerful Rule Power better maintains the stability of a Divine Kingdom. It allows for more diverse changes and expansions with each new Era and more swiftly eliminates internal turmoil or external interference.

On the other hand, it also binds the various life forms within the Divine Kingdom. It solidifies the world's borders, making it more difficult and strenuous for a God to reshape it.

To accelerate the Sail of a large Divine Kingdom requires a greater expenditure of the Power of Faith.

When Divine Kingdoms border and overlap, the Rule Powers of the two worlds intersect and clash, causing a series of changes in the adjoining territory.

A Divine War is not merely a duel between Gods or a slaughter between their soldiers; it is also a struggle between their underlying Rules, an entanglement of mutual influence.

The simplest way to completely conquer a Divine Kingdom is to kill its local God. Once the Old God falls, the local Fire of Faith is instantly extinguished, making it easy to claim their legacy.

In practice, however, this is no easy task.

During a war, Gods do not reveal themselves lightly. They only manifest their Divine Body when they are certain of an absolute advantage. Until then, both sides remain in the rear, exercising patience and waiting for the other to reveal a weakness.

On the front lines, the soldiers of the Divine Kingdoms, led by their Apostles, fight to the death.

By occupying more enemy territory over time and depleting their population, one's own Rule Power can better permeate the surrounding area, creating a home-field advantage.

Take this Divine War, for instance.

The Ghost Realm is a damp, cold world of swamps, mudflats, and lakes. The Bamboo Reed Kingdom, in contrast, consists of forested hills and mountains with a warm climate and abundant sunlight.

Ghouls detest sunlight and grow weak under its rays. The Bamboo People, on the other hand, hate water; being soaked makes them slow and more vulnerable.

As the forces of the Bamboo Reed Kingdom advanced, their Rule Power gradually transformed the bordering terrain, reshaping it into a landscape that favored them.

The Ghost God saw all this unfold.

He was not worried.

Trading space for time—this was the Ghost Realm's strategy.

He deliberately had the front-line tombstone clusters reduce their attack frequency, creating the illusion of a rout to bait the enemy into a reckless pursuit.

Once the Bamboo Beasts and Bamboo People charged deep into the heart of the tombstone clusters, the Ghouls and High-Level Tombstones could execute a powerful encirclement and cripple the enemy's main force.

Unfortunately, despite their string of victories, the enemy did not advance recklessly.

Clearly, the King of Bamboo Reed also had extensive experience with Divine Wars; he hadn't let localized victories go to his head.

So, the Ghost God moved on to the next phase.

Infiltration.

The Ghost Realm possessed a racial advantage: Ghosts.

Ghosts were useless in a frontal assault. They would scatter at the first charge, and any injuries they sustained were permanent. However, their unique form allowed them to hide and conceal themselves in any environment.

The most agile and resilient among them were trained by Apostle Blo to be Ghost Scouts. In times of war, they would silently slip behind enemy lines to gather intelligence on the enemy's Divine Kingdom and carry out sabotage on command.

While the Ghost Realm's front lines suffered repeated defeats, the Ghost Scouts operating in the enemy's rear achieved great success.

Their reconnaissance confirmed that the true core of the Bamboo Reed Kingdom was the Lumin.

These short, nimble little people liked to tie long reed tassels in their hair. They looked weak and helpless, but they were the brains of the Bamboo Reed Kingdom.

The Lumin planted bamboo forests in the rear, helping the Bamboo People grow strong. They were also the mentors and companions of the Bamboo People. The Bamboo Beasts, bamboo fortifications, bamboo architecture, bamboo swords, bamboo spears, and bamboo armor on the battlefield were all designed by the Lumin.

If the valiant Bamboo People were the sword and shield of the Bamboo Reed Kingdom, then the clever Lumin were the ones who wielded them.

The Ghost Scouts received their orders: carry out a large-scale assassination campaign against key Lumin.

This dealt a devastating blow to the Bamboo Reed Kingdom.

In retaliation, the Bamboo Reed Kingdom dispatched flocks of Bamboo Birds to attack and wreak havoc in the Ghost Realm's rear.

The core races of the two Divine Kingdoms, the Funeral Race and the Lumin, were both suffering continuous losses, even though neither had set foot on the front lines.

War isn't just about who can inflict more casualties; it's also about who can better absorb the losses.

With the appearance of the Mad Tombstones and the Bamboo Birds, the Divine War entered a more intense and brutal phase. The rate of population loss on both sides accelerated sharply.

At last, the Apostles joined the fray.

Although the Bamboo Reed Kingdom had only one Apostle, that Apostle, Zhur Nan, was of an exceptionally high Tier.

Wielding a special bamboo pole, he vaulted across the battlefield like an ape, smashing one tombstone after another. Hubbard struggled immensely to deal with him. Even with Blo's support from the rear, they were barely holding their ground.

The Ghost Realm remained at a disadvantage.

But the Ghost God still had an ace up his sleeve.

If the Bamboo Reed Kingdom dared to press its advantage, charging its entire army deep into the Ghost Realm's heartland, he would gain the strategic depth he needed to maneuver.

At that point, the lurking Ghost Scouts could no longer be individually tracked and contained. The Ghost God's Miracle would use the Ghost Scouts as conduits, Burning the majority of the Lumin to ash. The undying Nether Fire would rage through the Bamboo People's main camp. That would be the moment he turned the tide of the war.

'When the enemy is strong and I am weak, I must have sufficient patience and resolve.'

Just as the Ghost God was focused on the battlefield, the Sand Walker, Yan Jiu, suddenly appeared on the front lines and began fighting the Bamboo Beasts.

The Ghost God was overjoyed.

'That's it! Tear them apart!'

The Sand Walker's origins were a mystery, but he was a Level 33 Extraordinary Being, a higher Tier than both Blo and Hubbard. By attacking the Bamboo Beasts, he could effectively relieve the pressure on the front lines.

'It would be even better if he could take care of Zhur Nan.'

Unfortunately, Zhur Nan was on another part of the battlefield, completely overwhelming Hubbard.

The Ghost God had very complicated feelings about the Sand Walker.

When he'd first seen him, he had been overjoyed.

'To think my Divine Kingdom has such an Extraordinary Being! I must make him an Apostle.'

But he was refused.

The Ghost God was first stunned, then utterly enraged.

'To reject the summons of a God? What an arrogant mortal!'

'If you're not with me, you're against me!'

For a time, the Ghost God had wanted to execute the defiant Sand Walker.

But in the end, he restrained himself.

The Sand Walker claimed to be from the Yao Race and that he had arrived here after a failed Ascension from Yunzhong Temple.

Yunzhong Temple...

The Ghost God gazed toward the enormous, terrifying white vortex.

The Vortex World, Yunzhong Temple.

His heart grew heavy.

'The Sand Walker could have never broken through the world's border on his own.'

'Only a God could do something like that. And even then, it would require at least a Titled Deity to have the power to forcibly open a passage between worlds.'

'But... using a Vortex World as a training ground for one's believers? That was unheard of.'

The Sand Walker claimed to be just an ordinary follower of a God, and the Ghost God believed him.

But upon seeing the Divine Descendant Giant descend, the Ghost God realized he had still underestimated the God behind the Sand Walker.

'This was a Level 99 Apostle.'

'It wasn't that it was *only* Level 99, but that it was in the Crawling Area. The level cap here was locked at 99. This meant the Apostle's original form must have come from at least the Flying District.'

'The fact that some of the Divine Descendant Giant's abilities were sealed and unusable was the best proof of this.'

'A being named "Yao God," who isn't listed in the Divine Hall of the Gods... Titled Deities are known by their titles... so it's most likely a Main God, a being who transcends all other Gods.'

'Main Gods have many names. The Hunting Goddess, for example, is also called the God of Fertility and Nurturing, the Recovery Goddess, or the Purification Goddess. It was normal not to have heard of some ancient and bizarre names.'

The Ghost God felt a flicker of relief.

'Good thing I'm so level-headed and didn't kill the Sand Walker in a fit of rage.'

'A Main God is watching this place.'

He immediately sent a subtle message, telling Blo to build a good relationship with the Sand Walker.

'Could it be that Yunzhong Temple, this Vortex World, holds some kind of secret? Or perhaps special resources?'

The Ghost God was still lost in thought.

Suddenly, the entire world began to tremble violently. A massive rift tore open in the clouds, and the Rule Power became erratic, even failing in localized areas.

Rain flowed upward, gales coalesced into solid beams, and amidst flashes of black and white light, the blurry silhouette of another world appeared on the horizon.

The Ghost God was dumbfounded.

'Another Divine Kingdom?'

He immediately inspected the intruding world.

'Fortunately, it's just a common Gravel World.'

'When it rains, it pours.'

Before the Ghost God could even react, the Divine Kingdom rumbled once more. The Sun in the sky vanished without a trace, and strange impressions appeared on the ground... This was far more serious than the last event. For a moment, the Ghost God feared his Divine Kingdom would be torn asunder.

Fortunately, the Ghost Realm managed to withstand the strain.

But the entire world had been thrown into chaos. Fundamental rules governing climate and geography had been severely damaged, making the Divine Kingdom both unfamiliar and perilous.

The only good news was that the distant Bamboo Reed Kingdom was also being ravaged by dust storms and cataclysmic upheaval.

The falling Gravel World had crumbled, showering the landscape with rubble and sand. Tongues of fire licked up from fissures in the earth, and orbs of ball lightning materialized in the air, drifting about and exploding on contact. Ghouls and Bamboo People alike had no choice but to take shelter from the cataclysm.

Both sides reached a tacit understanding and withdrew, pulling back to regroup.

'If we kept fighting, it's hard to say who would win, but our homelands would be completely destroyed.'

The Ghost God grew even more despondent.

'You can call a truce in a Divine War, but these sudden cataclysms... they are the most terrifying enemy in the Crawling Area.'

At this thought, his resentment for the King of Bamboo Reed deepened.

'Is that bastard completely insane?'

'I was minding my own business, developing my little corner of the Vortex World, and you come charging in like a fucking lunatic to start a war! Who the hell did I piss off?!'

'Great! Now we're all screwed! No one's getting out of this!'

'Are you happy now? Satisfied?'

The Ghost God felt that perhaps he had been too lucky in the past. All his accumulated bad luck must be erupting at once.

Despite the endless grievances and frustrations boiling inside him, the Ghost God could only swallow his pride and endure.

'Living in the Crawling Area means you have to keep looking forward.'

He calmed himself and thought of a solution.

'Perhaps I can have the Sand Walker act as an intermediary and formally open communications with the King of Bamboo Reed.'

'Neither side can afford to keep this up.'

'So what if I lose a little face?'

'The Divine Kingdom is what's important.'